Gateshead chairman Graham Wood was all smiles yesterday after hearing the news he was “desperate” for.

And he thinks turning down big-spending Conference rivals Forest Green Rovers will make manager Gary Mills an instant hero with the club’s fans.

Wood was worried when he heard of Forest Green’s interest, and delighted by the response.

“It was great to hear the news from Gary,” he told the Chronicle. “It was a tough decision for him.

“I would imagine there was quite a lot of money at stake.

“It’s great to hear and more importantly the reasons behind it.

“I think he’ll be a hero now with the fans.

“I was desperate to hear he wanted to stay.

“Forest Green are probably paying twice as much as the next highest payer so there’s no doubt Gary would have been offered a lot of money to go there.

“The relationship feels right for everybody and if you look at the longer-term I’m equally sure we can achieve all the things Gary and I want.”

Wood is a firm believer in stability and good football, and he thinks the former Nottingham Forest player – who has started with eight wins in 11 games – can bring both.

“I’m not into the hiring-firing style of some boards,” he said. “We had Ian Bogie for seven seasons and it was a really tough decision (to sack him).

“Before that I was at Hampton and Richmond. We had Alan Devonshire there for nine years.

“We’ve got used to a style of football that’s lovely to watch. I’m not a fan of back-to-front stuff.

“We’re in the top eight budgets in the division and those richer clubs can’t have all the players.

“There’s enough players to go round, it’s just choosing the right ones.

“I’m sure that’s something Gary picked up from Brian Clough, his style was to make sure he had round pegs in round holes. He decided the way he was going to play first, then picked the right players position by position.